Demolition work has started on a major redevelopment of Gainsborough town centre site to pave the way for a new hotel and restaurant, creating 72 jobs.

The £1.4 million investment into Gainsborough will see a 56-room Travelodge built with a Ponti's Italian Kitchen restaurant on the ground floor.

And this week, bulldozers and cranes arrived at the site to demolish The Sun Inn hotel to make way for the new buildings.

The demolition is being carried out by UDCS Demolition with the overall project expected to finish next summer.

The joint venture also includes boosting the appearance of town centre shops with new traditional shop fronts, creating an independent shopping quarter in the town.

An artists impression of the hotel

The project has been welcomed by businesses in Gainsborough who have long supported the need for a town centre hotel to cater for both business and tourism.

Eve Fawcett-Moralee, commercial and economic growth director at West Lindsey District Council, said: “The hotel will be a major achievement for the town and it will have a huge impact to the local economy and local businesses including the acclaimed Gainsborough Old Hall.

“It will not only transform an empty site into a high quality hotel, the operation of the hotel and restaurant could bring £1.63m per annum into the area."

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The hotel and restaurant will be housed in a stunning Edwardian style building with entrances from Market Street and the Roseways Car Park.

The development has been designed by Dixon Dawson Architects - headed by the same team who worked on Marshall’s Yard.

Dransfield Properties and West Lindsey District Council are working to transform the Market Street, Market Place, Church Street and North Street area of Gainsborough.

Mark Dransfield, managing director for Dransfield Properties Ltd, said: “We are delighted to have the support of West Lindsey District Council’s planning committee and look forward to delivering this first phase of the development in the town centre.

“We know from our own experience as well as through speaking to the wider business community that there is a long held aspiration for a hotel in the town, this will be a huge boost to both business and tourism.

An artists impression of the project

“With this new development we wanted to look at the whole area and really understand what could be done to improve this part of the town centre.

"Working with West Lindsey District Council on improving the public realm and shop fronts is going to make an enormous difference."

Work is also under way to add extra spaces to Bridge Street car park in Gainsborough, to improve the offer to shoppers.

There are 29 new spaces being added, with the work expected to take around four weeks to complete.

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Cllr Sheila Bibb chairman of the Prosperous Communities Committee at WLDC said: “These extra spaces in Bridge Street will be welcomed by traders and shoppers alike, and will help alleviate any issues caused by the temporary loss of spaces in the Roseway Car Park while the new Travel Lodge is being built.”

The council plans to increase the number of spaces available in Gainsborough by 43 per cent over the next two years.